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105mm 210mm back cover 210mm front cover 207mm

297mm

105mm 210mm back cover 210mm front cover 207mm

297mm

At Hampton Court we welcome all visitors and try to make everyone’s day out enjoyable.

Historic Royal is the independent made where appropriate and possible. charity that looks after the Tower of , However, we recognise that this aim does , the Banqueting not override existing legislation concerning House, Palace, Palace and the protection of ancient monuments, listed . buildings, conservation areas and designated natural heritage sites, or the Health & Safety At the heart of our organisation is the Acts. Where access is not possible, improved challenge to help everyone explore the story interpretation facilities/services are being of how monarchs and people have shaped implemented whenever possible. society in some of the greatest palaces ever built. That means we are continually looking for ways to improve access and diversity – in the visitors we attract, the staff we employ and the services we provide.

To achieve this we have developed a Single Equality Scheme which covers the areas of disability, gender and race, and describes how we aim to promote equality and diversity in everything we do. It can be found on our website: www.hrp.org.uk/about-us/policies

We welcome disabled visitors and make sure that ‘reasonable adjustments’ are

Contact us

Hampton Court Palace KT8 9AU Email: [email protected] Telephone: +44 (0)20 3166 6000 Typetalk/text relay users should call 18001 020 3166 6000 (09:00 to 17:00 GMT)

Visit our website for more information: www.hrp.org.uk/hampton-court-palace/visit/accessibility

2 Opening times Admission

We are open daily, Visitors with a disability should purchase a including 1 January ticket and their carer or essential companion can ask for a free ticket. Please look on our We only close 24-26 December website or telephone the Contact Centre for prices. Hampton Court Palace, the Magic Garden Membership and the Maze open at 10:00 but closing times vary according to the time of year, Annual Membership changing with British Summer Time. Please gives unlimited access to all six of our telephone or check our website for details. palaces and so allows you to explore and discover Hampton Court whenever you want. Please note: There are many additional benefits including Some external surfaces may be slippery, discounts in the cafés and shops, exclusive especially when wet. This includes the events and access to the private Members’ courtyards and cloisters; Fountain Court Room at Hampton Court Palace. particularly can be wet underfoot from Members who need to come with a carer or condensation even though it is under cover. essential companion should advise the ticket Please be aware that we have steep slopes office staff when purchasing membership and drops from height in some of and they will add ‘plus carer’ to your card. our gardens. If you have any questions please call the Membership Office on 0844 482 7788. Dogs

All recognised guide, assistance or service dogs – including assistance dogs in training – are welcome inside the palace. Please make sure they are wearing their designated jacket or lead slip. Owners should also bring the dog’s ‘Assistance Dog’s (UK)’ identification book (or the appropriate international equivalent) with them.

Unfortunately, due to conservation concerns and the nature of items on display, we do not allow emotional support animals to enter the palace at this time.

3 How to get to us… Public transport Parking

Hampton Court Palace is in Travelcard Zone 6. Palace car park (on site)

Trains run directly from London Waterloo We have 200 car parking spaces, nine of to Hampton Court station, 200 metres which are disabled parking spaces for blue away from the palace entrance. The station badge holders. They are available on a first- concourse is step-free and includes toilets. come, first-served basis to palace visitors.

Buses from Kingston, Richmond and Surrey Parking is currently free for blue badge run past Hampton Court Palace and many holders when parked in the disabled bays. of the bus stops are close by. Routes 111, Parking in all other bays is chargeable at 216, 411 and R68 accept Oyster Cards, an hourly rate with payment on exit. Travelcards, contactless payment and Minibuses can only park onsite if they fit in Freedom Passes; the 461 and 513 generally a car parking space; alternative parking is do not. Some buses have wheelchair access available in the Hampton Court Green car depending on space. & coach park. River boats run in the summer months only Hampton Court Green car & coach park from Westminster (Westminster Passenger (500 metres from the palace entrance) Services; the journey can take up to 4 hours), Richmond and Kingston (Turks Launches; There are an additional 150 car parking journey time 45-90 minutes). Visitors with spaces on Hampton Court Green chargeable access needs should be aware that the piers at an hourly rate with payment on arrival. at Hampton Court Palace are fixed and so do not ride up and down with river water levels. Minibuses should park in the coach bays if There are also either slopes or a number of they are too large to fit into a car bay. There steps to get to and from them. are nine spaces for coaches, suitable for 50-seater coaches. Parking is free for coaches.

Hampton Court station (200 metres from the palace entrance)

Car and coach parking is available at Hampton Court station. Please contact South Western Railways or check at the station for prices.

Drop-off or collection

Please note that there are no drop-off or collection points outside the entrances to the palace or the gardens for coaches. The nearest is at the station. Taxis may drop off by the ticket office.

4 Toilets

There are accessible toilets in the following areas: the palace, the gardens, the Café and the Magic Garden.

The nearest toilets to the car park and the ticket office are behind the car park exit by the Kitchen Garden. They are 100 metres There are a variety of seats in the Tiltyard away from the ticket office. Café from sofas to high-backed chairs and garden benches. Seating in the Privy Kitchen Once inside the palace, the nearest toilets Café is on backless benches but there are are in the cloister on the right hand side of chairs in the small Additional Seating Room Base Court, the first courtyard beyond the which is up 1 step. main entrance. During the summer, there is an additional Please see the ‘Information for families’ waiter-service café off Fountain Court. There section of this guide for baby-changing are also ice cream carts around the gardens facilities. We have no adult-changing facilities. and a small food and drinks kiosk in the Magic Garden where there is also free access to drinking water to fill visitors’ own containers.

If visitors need to bring their own diet- specific or special food they are welcome to sit in our cafés if they make a food and/or drink purchase as the seats are reserved for café patrons.

The gardens can be used for picnics at any time. There are wet weather options, for use at weekends and in the school holidays only, in the schools’ lunchrooms inside the palace off Base Court and in the Barrack Block schools’ lunchrooms (next to the palace car park). Refreshments

There are two catering outlets: the Privy Kitchen Café inside the palace and the Tiltyard Café in the gardens. Both are self- service. Gluten free food is available on a first come, first served basis but the cafés will try and cater with available ingredients if requested.

The Tiltyard Café is larger, has a wider range of food and also has level access. Wheelchair users can get to the seating area of the Privy Kitchen via the café exit.

5 Information for Left luggage families facilities

Pushchairs and buggies can be taken around There is a left luggage facility by the buggy the palace; please speak to a warder if you park off Clock Court. It contains lockers that wish to use the lift. can take hand baggage and small rucksacks.

Parents with double buggies/pushchairs A £1 coin is required to access the lockers should be aware that some doorways which will be returned when you collect are narrow, particularly on the first floor. your belongings. Anything larger than 170 cm x 70 cm will also struggle to get into the lift so parents may wish to focus their visit on the ground floor and the palace gardens instead.

A buggy park and left luggage facility is available off Clock Court if you don’t want to take the buggy around with you.

It is adjacent to the unsupervised ‘Family Room’ for under 5’s and their families/carers. It contains play items to keep younger members of the family happy. All items must remain in the Family Room and parents/ carers must stay with their children.

There are baby-changing facilities in the toilets off Base Court, Fountain Court and in the Tiltyard Café. Mobility

Our guide for families with children on the autism spectrum can be downloaded from Hampton Court Palace is very large! The our website. palace sits within 6 acres and there are 60 acres of garden. Visitors wishing to see all of We have some family trails in the the interiors and a bit of the gardens will travel Information Centre for families to collect – over two miles! We recommend you wear including an autism-friendly one. comfortable shoes!

How far will I have to walk/travel?

The distances below should be used as a guide only. One metre is just over one yard.

Distances from… Metres

Ticket Office/Palace Shop to the West Gate (main entrance) 140 West Gate to East Gate and the East Front Gardens 160 West Gate to the Tiltyard Café 180 West Gate to the visitor lift to the first floor 160 Hampton Court train station to the Ticket Office/Palace Shop 240 Hampton Court train station to the West Gate 380

6 It is an historic building so much of the palace has uneven surfaces, either smooth Wheelchairs and well-worn or cobbled. There is gravel on some of the paths in the formal gardens which may be difficult for wheelchair users. Manual wheelchairs for use within Hampton Court Palace are available from the entrance Inside the palace there are a number of on a first come, first served basis. We have staircases but many are shallow, having been no staff or volunteers available to help push built for King William III who was asthmatic. manual wheelchairs. Single-person mobility Some seating, predominantly window seats, scooters for visitors to use in the palace is available in most rooms. gardens only are also available from the same place on the same basis. Neither can There is a staff-operated lift to the first floor be booked in advance. for visitors unable to climb stairs. It is 171 cms deep by 122 cms wide and the door is Wheelchairs are loaned at visitors’ own risk 90 cms. Should this one be out of order, we and are not for use outside the palace and its have a second lift which is 109 cms deep by gardens. 130 cms wide and the door is 78 cms. Please speak to a member of staff at the East Gate Visitors may use their own mobility scooters if you wish to use the lift. in both the palace and the gardens although please note that there is limited access for The only part of the visitor route which does mobility scooters in the Maze and in some not have step-free access is ‘Young Henry areas of the palace. VIII’s Story’ and a virtual tour is available in the Information Centre from the audio guides Class 3 mobility scooters that can be driven distribution desk. on public roads may be used in the palace gardens but not inside the palace itself. Horse-drawn charabanc rides This is largely due to conservation concerns although anything larger than 170 cm x 70 During the summer months a horse-drawn cm will struggle to get into the lift to get carriage takes visitors around the Great to the first floor; some ground floor door Fountain Garden. There is an additional frames may also be too narrow. fee for this – it is not included in admission tickets or membership. A staff-operated Visitors coming with their own Class 3 manual platform lift (109 cms x 130 cms with mobility scooters who wish to visit the a door of 78 cms) is available for wheelchair formal gardens should make themselves users on the 11:00 ride; please be at the known at the West Gate. A member of staff East Gate by 10:55 if you need to use the will then escort them through to the East platform lift. The carriage has space for Gate via the north cloisters, the only pathway only one wheelchair. through the palace that is wide enough for such scooters.

A battery-assisted wheelchair is available to hire for two-hour specified tours of the palace; it is not suitable for use in the gardens. These palace tours are delivered by volunteers who must operate the wheelchair at all times. There is a small charge for this service which must be pre-booked a few weeks in advance. Please see our website for more information about the tours available and to download the booking form.

For evacuation purposes, due to the size of the refuge areas, only six wheelchairs are allowed on the first floor at any one time.

7 Deaf/hard of Blind/partially hearing visitors sighted visitors

All the coloured areas on the palace map are For conservation reasons, many of the open to visitors. rooms inside the palace are dark. Please allow sufficient time for your eyes to adjust, Induction loops can be found near tills at all particularly when using stairs. ticket sales points, in the shops, cafés and in Business Reception. The multi-language Some external surfaces may be slippery, audio guides that are available from the especially when wet. Please be aware that Information Centre can be used with hearing we have steep slopes and drops from aids that have a T-switch. The audio tour height in some of our gardens. scripts in English are also available to take around.

Copies of the guidebook can be borrowed from the Information Centre in Base Court for the duration of your visit.

Most films that have audio have subtitles – the exception is ‘The Story’ where the transcript is available instead.

Regular, monthly, British Sign Language tours and/or presentations are available with our Institute of Tourist Guiding qualified BSL-using Deaf Guides and BSL Interpreter- Guides. During winter months places need Audio tours in English are available in to be pre-booked but during the summer versions designed for visitors with partial no pre-booking is required. Please see our sight. Please request them when collecting website for dates and booking details. your audio tours. The audio equipment is used like a telephone and comes with a neck strap. It also has a very small screen that shows static pictures of the rooms described. General audio tours are available in a variety of languages. The equipment is the size of a smart phone so the screen is larger. It comes with headphones and a neck strap. Braille guidebooks can be borrowed for the duration of your visit from the Information Centre in Base Court. Braille information is also available in the ‘Young Henry VIII’ exhibition and in the . Please ask a warder if you wish to use them. Returnable large print folders are available in all exhibition spaces and in the Council Chamber, although much of the written interpretation available is in a large font. Objects not protected by barriers within Henry VIII’s Kitchens and Henry VIII’s Apartments are replica’s and are here to be handled. Artefacts and interiors in other areas of the Palace are historic and because of this, are too fragile to 8 be touched. Please do not attempt to touch anything behind a barrier. Object handling sessions are sometimes Sensory Palaces available for all visitors. Sensory Palaces is a health and wellbeing An escorted description service, which can programme for people living with early include some object handling, for blind or ‘mild’ stage dementia and their carers that partially-sighted visitors is available. engages participants in sensory storytelling It must be booked a minimum of 14 days in the historic spaces of Hampton Court in advance to ensure the availability of Palace. trained volunteers. Each session provides a chance to explore Our costumed interpreters are willing to let stories from the palace, participate in visitors feel their costumes when they are fun, sensory activities and build social wandering around the courtyards – but be connections. Sessions are designed to careful to ask permission first, especially of enhance mental health and wellbeing, King Henry VIII! encouraging new learning opportunities in a safe and welcoming environment.

Spaces on Sensory Palaces sessions are free for participants but are very limited. Information for All participants must be pre-booked and people living with dementia must come to people affected sessions with a carer. Please see our website by dementia for session details. To book a session, please email: [email protected]

Creating a dementia friendly heritage site Dress comfortably and according to the weather. It can be cool inside and hot We are committed to being a ‘Dementia- outside in the summer, and warm inside and friendly’ heritage organisation and deliver very cold outside in winter! the Alzheimer’s Society’s ‘Dementia Friends’ information sessions for our staff Wear comfortable shoes for walking on and volunteers to raise awareness and uneven surfaces. understanding of the disease. We are If you wish to avoid as many queues as members of the Dementia Action Alliance possible, try to arrive early preferably within in Richmond. the first hour of opening to be some of our We also helped write ‘Rethinking heritage: first visitors. A guide to help make your site more The busiest areas of the palace at any time dementia-friendly’ – a resource written of year are: by those who are working to promote dementia-friendly practice in small, large, • Henry VIII’s Apartments national and local heritage organisations. It is available to download on our website: • Henry VIII’s Kitchens www.hrp.org.uk/about-us/learning • Young Henry VIII’s Story

• The Queen’s Stairs

The peak visitor period is Easter to October, but Christmas and the spring and autumn school holidays are also busy.

Weekends are generally busier than weekdays.

During term time, we are also busy with school groups between 10:00 and 14:30.

9 Visitors on the Special tours autistic spectrum and/or events

On the accessibility page of our website we The palace organises a wide range of have a detailed guide for parents/carers of daytime and evening events throughout the children and people on the autistic spectrum year, including exhibitions, special activities, and related conditions. Although everyone tours, talks and live performances. Many on the autistic spectrum is different, the are included in the price of admission – for guide answers common questions and example, our costumed interpreters who highlights issues that may be relevant to give dramatic presentations of some of the someone with autism visiting Hampton Court historic events that happened at Hampton Palace. Court. Some, particularly evening events, have an additional cost and separate tickets On the same web page there is an ‘easy-read must be purchased. general visit guide’ which has bullet-point information and accompanying pictures to Reasonable additional arrangements can be make coming to Hampton Court Palace as made for attendees with additional needs as stress-free as possible. long as we know in advance. For example, if a wheelchair user books onto a Ghost There is an autism-friendly family trail Tour an extra member of staff is required to of Henry VIII’s Apartment which can be assist with the lift, and British Sign Language collected from the Information Centre. interpreters have to be booked weeks in advance to facilitate any deaf attendees. Please help us to help you by giving us enough notice and as much information as possible about any additional requirements so that we can provide the best service.

Tickets for many of our special events sell out very quickly so please book tickets as soon as possible and then arrange access immediately afterwards to avoid disappointment.

10 Quiet spaces Staff & volunteers

Hampton Court Palace is large and can All our staff and volunteers are happy to contain a lot of visitors without feeling help you – please ask. crowded. It is normally busier during the summer months. Areas further away from They are unable to assist with pushing the entrance will be quieter for longer manual wheelchairs around - either ours or yours - but can advise on smoother routes Visitors can also relax in over 60 acres of and what can be touched. Only our trained beautiful gardens, admiring the sparkling volunteers may operate the battery-assisted fountains, glorious displays of over 200,000 wheelchair that can be pre-booked. seasonal flowering bulbs, herbaceous plants and kitchen garden produce. Behind the Staff can be identified by their uniforms: red palace gardens is 750 acres of tranquil coats or waistcoats for the State Apartment deer park with ponds and other waterways, Warders; black and red waistcoats and attracting a wide range of birds. The long jackets for the ticket staff and shop staff; avenues give views across Home Park to black with white shirts for the café staff. and away from the palace. A First Aider is on duty every day. If you There are a number of places within the require their help please contact any of the gardens and park that afford peace and staff or volunteers who will call for the First quiet, even on busy days. However, as there Aider to come and assist you. is no direct link between the gardens and the In the event of an evacuation, please follow park this may mean a long walk. the instructions of the staff. The Family Room, next to the buggy park and left luggage lockers off Clock Court, is also a potential quiet space and may be suitable for children on the autistic spectrum even if it is also being used by toddlers. It has soft toys and bean bags and so is a good place to let off a bit of steam, whether it is busy or quiet, but please note that it is popular with families with a child under 5.

On our website we have a specific guide for families with a child on the autism spectrum and an easy-read guide to visiting Hampton Court Palace for all visitors who may prefer pictorial information.

11 There are places to sit on most routes Using the floor plans Route distances are a guide only

Access key Key

Ramp or slope Information Best route for Centre & wheelchair users Audio guides Garden Shop (ramped access) Dotted lines – Buggy park Wheelchair users will Wheelchair store. A limited number of wheelchairs bag store & go against the visitor and motorised scooters are available to borrow family room flow to begin or exit Maze a route Accessible toilet Picnic area Accessible lift (weekends only) (please ask a warder in a red coat for access) Privy Kitchen Café Shops Cobbled and uneven surface Audio guides drop-off box Smooth or polished surface ‘The Baroque Story’ exhibition Levels of light variable Tiltyard Café Fountain Court Café Handrail (Open summer season only) Accessible toilet Steps Baby change

Female toilet Sound interpretation Male toilet Silent area / no sound interpretation Level access route

Interpretative film No photography Stairs Handling objects

Crown Royal Pew light Henry VIII’s levels variable No photography of Henry VIII’s Apartments or (1509–1547) Council Chamber

4 video units: spoken debate with sound, Slight slope to narrow subtitles and viewing area transcripts

Great Magnifying mirror to Watching see ceiling decoration Chamber 2 steps up (no handrail) Slope up 1 step up to window Horn Table with replica Room vessels 1 step up to dais Slopes up to dais Great Dark on entry Hall to route. 22 steps with centre 1 step down handrail for all steps and side handrails for majority of steps 1 step down into Buttery

Tactile replica of Katherine 200m Enter here of Aragon pomegranate Buttery (Route distance) stonework on archway Start from above buttery entrance Base Court 12 Sound and subtitles Wine Barrels Cellar

Sounds of wine barrels being tapped Henry VIII’s Serving 8 steps down from Place the cloister. Handrail Kitchens 1 step down on LHS as go down to Servery Slope down (1509–1547) to Servery

Fake meat FIRE REAL and plates Great Kitchen*

2 steps to Scullery Court (Education Route only) * Historic cooks 2 steps up, 1 small Crackling fires and dialogue can sometimes be step down, of found in the Great variable height Herbs and vegetables, pots and pans Kitchen roasting Cooking preparation films, with sounds meat on the fire and Floors slope and dialogue on 4 chopping boards preparing dishes. towards centre Slope down from of room for Fish Court into Visitors can watch, drainage Tactile kitchen help and smell fake meat the cooking Outside area Paving with central 4 steps up with Sounds of Fish Court drainage gully handrail RHS as bubbling and fire you go up crackling, some dialogue and tactile fake food Barrels

Film with sounds of the counting house and Slope up into some dialogue Fish Court

Slope up from courtyard Barrels 130m (Route distance) Outside area Courtyard: sounds of horses’ hooves, carts, Cobbles sawing, rumbling, chopping, animals, voices (dialogue). Sounds travel across the courtyard

One step up to exit (3 more steps up to William III’s Apartments if using Young Henry VIII’s wheelchair access route) Story (1509–1532) 2+13+2+6 steps; Main handrail LHS as you go down. Then 1 step down into Stone Passage. Slight slope with raised lip Whispered voice on staircase

2 steps and then 18 spiral stairs in a clockwise direction up to Projected images on wall. the first floor Background music but no (handrail LHS as subtitles /spoken words you go up and rope on RHS) Audio incorporated into the benches by the windows. Battle sound effects accompany the touchscreens about the paintings

Both doorways have a slope up from larger room into this smaller room

Film with music; 130m no spoken words (Route distance) and no subtitles 1 step down into small courtyard 13

Start from Base Court (Route distance) (Route 220m

First floor 110m distance) (Route Verylow light To Young To Henry VIII’s Story via 3 steps Short, steep, ramp up and down

Music at far end and variable light levels. Lower light levels especially at the far end

Both doorways Both quite dark

Variable light in stairwell on leaving the Colonnade Guard Chamber King’s Privy Chamber The

Queen’s Queen’s Gallery Bed Chamber The Great 8+9+8+8 Handrail RHS on the way up 10+5+10 Handrail RHS on the way down

Stairs ground to floor Wooden floor with ‘carpet path’ Music, applause, voices talking, sounds of gambling Stairs down ground to floor & Fountain Court steps; (12+12+2 main handrail on RHS as you go down) Staircase Queen’s up first to floor9+11+11steps. Main handrail on RHS as you go up after first 9 steps (Thin rail on LHS as you go up adjacent all to the stairs) Slope down to Slope up to Private Drawing Room Smooth marble floor

Orangery Tactile, static headless mannequins

Light levels increase as you go through and then decrease on leaving the Orangery Fireplace Fireplace sound of crackling wood as it burns Heavy door door Heavy at bottom of Staircase. Queen’s Passageway usually busy Music on staircase / landing for exhibition

Light to dark Tactile information Tactile handrails

Handrail round round Handrail central table display Ground 130m distance) (Route floor Apartments (1689–1702) William III’s III’s William 14 (1714–1737) Georgian Story Large Light Cumberland Closet Gallery (Art 1500–1900)

Discover magnificent works from the including paintings by , Holbein, van Dyck and .

170m Wolsey (Route distance) Closet

Light levels consistent in most rooms, but focussed on artworks not the room No sound in Art Gallery

Enter and exit here via Queen’s Staircase 9+11+11 steps

Exit into gardens Mantegna Gallery (Painted 1485–1506) Level access route Large print guide to gallery

Explore one of the most important sets of paintings Paintings and art gallery in the Royal Collection. generally well lit

Enter the Mantegna Gallery here One step up from cloister  3 sets of heavy doors

Flat passage-way through building on ground floor from cloister Enter via gardens Small step There are 2 small steps at the entrance when coming from the 140m cloister. Wheelchair users may (Route distance) prefer to enter via the south gardens and the Great Vine Cloister

15 ‘What to do in…’

Our friendly staff in the Information Centre 2 hours off Base Court can assist you in planning Henry VIII’s Apartments and your time. However, here are some possible his Crown (30 mins) ideas to help you get the most out of your Henry VIII’s Kitchens (20 mins) visit to the palace if you only have... Chapel Court and/or the Chapel Royal (10 mins) 1 hour – the Tudor experience *Young Henry VIII’s Story (20 mins) Henry VIII’s Apartments and his William III’s Apartments (15 mins) Crown (20 mins) The Georgian Story (25 mins) Henry VIII’s Kitchens (20 mins) *Young Henry VIII’s Story (20 mins) 3 hours Henry VIII’s Apartments 1 hour – the Baroque experience and his Crown (35 mins) William III’s Apartments (35 mins) Henry VIII’s Kitchens (20 mins) Watch the Baroque Story film Chapel Court and/or the (15 mins) Chapel Royal (10 mins) The Georgian Chocolate Kitchens *Young Henry VIII’s Story (25 mins) (10 mins) The Baroque Story film (15 mins) William III’s Apartments (35 mins) The Georgian Chocolate Kitchens (10 mins) The Georgian Story (30 mins)

16 If you are staying longer, don’t miss: The Mantegna Gallery The Cumberland Art Gallery The Formal Gardens and the Great Vine (limited mobility scooter access in viewing area) The Magic Garden The (limited mobility scooter access) The Kitchen Garden

Don’t forget that you can come and go between the palace and the gardens with your palace ticket – you can return to do other areas inside the building on the same day or, if you are a member, over the course of a year. Just show your admission ticket/ membership card each time you enter the palace or Magic Garden or Maze.

*A virtual tour of ‘Young Henry VIII’s Story’ is available in the Information Centre if required.

17 The Magic Garden

The Magic Garden is just beyond the Kitchen Children are encouraged to challenge Garden. An admission ticket is required themselves so there are a number of areas to enter; it is included in palace admission that young children or those with additional tickets and membership but a separate needs may find daunting. Please take care in Magic Garden & Maze ticket is available for these areas especially if balance is an issue. those who don’t have palace tickets There is plenty of seating and a small café or membership. and toilets, including an accessible toilet, inside the garden. However, the Tiltyard Café The Magic Garden is aimed at children of and a larger set of toilets are both nearby. all ages and we actively encourage families, friends and carers to play together. The There are places designed to provide some wide variety of different play experiences on tranquillity for those who need it. However, offer means there is something for all but we please be aware that, although fairly big, consider our main age group for children to there will be areas of congestion on busy be 2 to 13 years old. days, especially in the summer holidays, so be prepared for crowds. If required, queue It takes its inspiration from the fairytale- management systems will be in place. Please like quality of the Tudor Palace. There are speak to the staff at the entrance if you are towers with spiral staircases, enclosed with a child that finds queuing difficult. slides, a fireman’s pole, a secret grotto and an amphitheatre. Our play areas are all fun, There are some shady areas but on very challenging and exciting. sunny days these are few and far between. Please protect anyone who is sensitive with Astroturf, or artificial grass, is used to cover hats and sun-cream. There is a water play the amphitheatre and the mound (the high area if people do need to cool off – but bear point of the garden). Please note that there in mind that this will mean they get wet! is a potential issue with artificial grass, cochlear implants and static so users should All the play equipment is adult-proof. consult the manufacturer of their device for Adults are encouraged to play with their specific advice if they are concerned. children and disabled adults are welcome to participate as much or as little as they Whilst every effort has been made to make wish. All children under the age of 16 will the site as accessible as possible – e.g. need to be supervised by an adult and, as there is a wheelchair friendly path into the with the rest of the palace, we will not allow amphitheatre and another leading up the unsupervised children into the Magic Garden. mound – there are some areas, such as the aerial walkways and some of the wild wood paths, that are not accessible to wheelchair users.

18 Hampton Court Palace Gardens The Maze

The 60 acres of gardens at Hampton Court Entry to the Maze is included in palace Palace are made up of several different admission tickets and membership, but you areas such as the Rose Garden or the can buy a ticket just to go in the Maze if you Privy Garden. Some can only be reached want. During the summer, Maze tickets will through the palace; others do not require also let you enter the Magic Garden. an admission ticket to visit. The Maze has narrow paths and 2-metre high The gardens are generally flat but there are hedges. The paths are only 1 metre wide some steep slopes and drops from height and there is nowhere to turn round should in some areas. Some have uneven surfaces you find yourself in a dead end, so access is and gravel paths while others have tarmac restricted for mobility scooters. paths. There are also several ponds and a canal; please be careful near water. The Maze may close at short notice in adverse weather conditions You are welcome to smell the roses and (e.g. snow or ice). touch the plants in the gardens – but be careful as some have thorns or spikes, especially the cacti!

The animals that you will see are wild. Please do not try to touch them, get too close or feed them as they will bite! Please do not try to pat the shire horses that pull our carriage ride round the Great Fountain Gardens in the summer as they are working horses and do not like to be touched.

If you bring your own food or picnic you can eat it on the benches in the gardens or on the grass. We often have deckchairs in the summer that visitors can use.

The gardens offer the most peace and quiet, even on busy days, but tranquil spots might require quite a bit of walking. Areas further away from the entrance will be quieter for longer.

19

105mm 210mm back cover 210mm front cover 207mm

297mm